A/N:
Your continuing reviews make me squee x3

I'm glad you guys are still with me! (Oh no..rhyming.)
Thank you for your help on the ages! I'm gonna go with Glenn being 22...and I hope no one minds.

On to it, then! I hope you enjoy. And I own nothing of The Walking Dead!

The remainder of that evening went by pretty smoothly. The girl still hadn't said anything, but she had gotten used to the ice pack on her ankle, and the small group finally coaxed her into taking some pain medication they had left in the med kit. Those tiny pills knocked her out completely, but considering how exhausted and overwhelmed she must be, one could have easily guessed that the pills weren't entirely to blame. Glenn stayed close, reading a book, drawing...anything he could do to keep himself entertained while she slept. When no one else was in the room or passing by, he would find his attention straying back to the little mystery sleeping deeply on their sofa. Before he knew it...he had begun to draw her picture. "Way to be creepy, man." He thought to himself as he realized what he had done. It didn't do her justice, of course, but Glenn never claimed to be an artist himself. When Andrea and Lori entered the room, he quickly shut his sketchbook.

"She still sleepin'?" Lori asked, holding a plate full of food and a glass of water. At that moment, the young woman's eyes opened and focused on the two standing near her. Had she even been sleeping at all? Lori looked surprised for a moment. "Oh, you're awake! How do you feel?"

And again, silence.

"Are you hungry? The boys did well today, so none of this food had to be, uh..re-hydrated." The poor mother tried to make a joke, but it just wound up making the room seem more awkward as the girl stared at the plate warily for a moment before she shook her head. Lori was instantly more concerned.

"Are you sure? When was the last time you - "

"I'm sure she'll be hungry later," Andrea interrupted, wanting to ease the situation. She offered a small smile. "We can find her something then." Glenn continued to watch from the corner, feeling invisible until the blonde shot a glance his way, pausing for a moment before looking back at the other two. Andrea continued, hoping for the best. "Do you want a shower? They're communal, but they have curtains and everything...I was just on the way there myself." It was nice of her to offer, but...Glenn could tell how awkward Andrea was feeling. It's kind of hard to suggest a group shower to a complete stranger, even though she may need help. He held his breath until he saw her slowly prop herself up on her elbows, then attempt to move her legs off the couch. Immediately, all three of them were at her side, trying to help. To say that their no-named guest was surprised was definitely an understatement. Andrea grinned and let out a short laugh.

"Glenn, why don't you see what everyone else is up to? Lori and I will help our friend here." She grinned a little at him.

"Uh..." He nodded his head once, feeling his face turn red. "Right." With one last reassuring smile towards the girl, he scurried out of the room to compose himself before actually finding everyone.

After his face had returned to it's normal color, Glenn wandered into the main area. He assumed it was some kind of "mess hall" type situation, but he had never really been an expert on army lingo. That was where the kitchen sat, and there were tables everywhere, so he assumed that was the correct term.

"There you are." Rick said loudly, announcing his friend's entrance. "You missed out on dinner. Everything alright?" The sheriff watched the young man carefully, trying to hide his grin just in case something had gone wrong and he was unaware.

"Yeah." He nodded, looking at no one in particular. "She just slept." He hoped she did, anyway. "Andrea and Lori are helping her get cleaned up."

"Good." Rick replied, sipping on his glass of water, his food having disappeared quite a while ago.

"Has she said anything yet?" Shane inquired, surprising Glenn a little bit...but he guessed that a new, silent member of their group was causing a little excitement. God knows he was about to go crazy with curiosity. Glenn shook his head, and Carol shifted uneasily, combing her fingers through her daughter's hair.

"Why won't she talk?" She asked, her voice quiet, but urgent. "It makes me nervous."

"She just needs time." Lori said from the hall before entering the room and taking a seat next to her husband. "You said you guys found her on her own, right?"

"Right." Rick said, nodding. "Could've been by herself for days now...maybe something just happened to her group." He paused, trying to plan his words carefully. "All of us know what it's like out there...and she's lucky we found her. She'll tell us what happened in time."

"What if she just got separated from her group?" Sophia spoke up for the first time that night, causing everyone to pause and take a minute to look at the little girl.

"Well...if you got away from us, wouldn't you be fighting to get back by now?" He asked with a little twinkle in his eye. Sophia smiled and nodded her head, causing a few people around the table to chuckle.

"It still makes me nervous." Carol continued on with her point. "I'm not sayin' we need to kick her out, not by any means! I just think we should be careful. We've all seen this...apocalypse do crazy things to people. I'm just not so sure we need to give her our full trust yet."

"Whatsa' matter there, Carol?" Daryl finally spoke up, his expression clearly amused. "Ya' never take home a stray kitten before?" That caused the woman to smile a little and earned a few laughs from around the table.

"I was just mentioning it." Carol said, a small smile still on her face. Glenn had not moved from his spot by the door. He thanked God that the tension in the room eased, and everyone seemed fine again. Taking his hat off and running a hand through his hair, the young man took a seat near Shane, facing the door and tried to get his mind to relax.

She felt so awkward...so out of place. She didn't belong here, she wanted to keep moving. She didn't know these people. Why were they being so nice, so helpful? Did they want something from her? All she had was a few personal items...not very many clothes. Whatever she still had in her small drawstring backpack was all she could offer...and they didn't seem like the type to want anything...inappropriate. There were two kids running around, for crying out loud. Still...she had heard stories of how the new world changed people. And she wasn't just referring to the undead. She had heard stories of people killing other (non infected) people. Men finding helpless women and having their way with them.

There were very few good stories floating around among the survivors out there.

"Come on," The blonde woman that had helped her get cleaned up was suddenly beside her. After everything that had happened, there was no reason to wonder why the girl was so reluctant to trust these strangers. But still...these people were slowly winning her over. Especially this new woman, Andrea. She had to remember names...she was always so bad with them. And the other guy, the one that was always around, the one that was the first to chase after her earlier. They hadn't been formally introduced, but she had picked up on his name from hearing everyone else say it. Glenn. For some reason, he concerned her the most. After months of expecting the worst out of the rest of the human race, she found his complete, sudden care for her...a little frightening. Why did he run after her like that? Their group was already big enough. What did he want?

"Lets go see if you've found your appetite yet. I'm sure everyone's anxious to see how you're doing." She knew that Andrea was trying to make her feel better, but the thought of everyone sitting in a room, staring at her made her stomach do flips. If Andrea realized that the girl was limping slower than usual, she didn't mention it. She was not in any kind of hurry to get in there.

The conversation in the room ceased as soon as the pair limped in. The girl tried to look everyone in the eye at first, but that plan quickly crumbled after the third attempt. Instead, she focused her eyes on the floor, acting like she was just being extra careful.

"Well look who's gettin' around!" Rick spoke up, his voice more cheerful than usual.

"How's that ankle feeling?" Dale asked, leaning on one of the tables. Had they really expected a cold shower to ease her into talking? She wondered vaguely, a sarcastic tone returning to her mind. It felt like quite a while since she was safe enough for sarcasm...and that worried her for some reason. After a moment of silence, Andrea decided to speak for her.

"I think the cool water probably did it some good. The bruises are starting to show more, though. She'll need another ice pack for tonight." Maybe she could keep this up and just have Andrea translate for her during her stay. And hopefully it would be a short stay. She wasn't planning on being here long. She just needed to get her ankle back in working condition, and she could be on the move again.

"Well I'm sure we can manage that." Rick said, smiling some more. She could tell that he was trying to be extra friendly. And she wasn't quite sure how she felt about that.

"Hell, quit runnin' yer mouth an' let the girl sit." Daryl chimed in. "There's an open seat next ta' Glenn there." He smirked and winked when Glenn shot him a flabbergasted look.

"Come on kids," Carol suddenly stood, possibly trying to get the focus off of poor Glenn as quickly as possible. "Lets get to bed. I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to talk to.." The woman trailed off. She could tell that this whole "not knowing her name thing" was starting to get annoying. "This new young lady tomorrow." She smiled at the girl kindly. Kind, but she could have sworn she looked slightly put out. Not that she could blame her, the group have saved her life, given her new clothes, cleaned her up...and now they were feeding her. Her name was the very least she could give them.

The children exited the room with Carol after saying goodnight, and she sat across from Glenn with Andrea since it was the closest available seat.

"The mac and cheese is a little cold..and the green beans." Lori set the plate down in front of her, then frowned. "It's all too cold. Hold on, I'll..find a way to heat it." Before she could take it away, the girl gently held on to both sides of the plate and looked up at the mother, smiling just ever so slightly. She was grateful, and for the first time all day, she felt like it showed. Lori (and everyone else, to be honest) looked surprised for a moment.

"Oh, are you...? Okay." Lori nodded, looking as if her train of thought had been thrown out the window. She handed her a fork and a bottle of water, then sat next to her husband again. The young woman could feel everyone stealing glances at her as she ate, but she could hardly bring herself to care. Yes, the food was just about stone cold, but it was the best thing she had tasted in her whole life...okay, that was an overreaction. But she had been living off of poorly cooked things in a can, over fire...maybe the occasional pop tart. Eating something that had actually been decently cooked, even though it was cold it was just...amazing. The group continued their conversations, laughing and joking. She pretended not to be paying attention, but she was listening to everything they were saying. Watching how they treated each other. They seemed close. Like a real family. That made her nervous.

Suddenly Rick realized that they hadn't all formally introduced themselves to the new girl. So he went around the room, everyone smiling at her when their names were called. Well...everyone smiled except the one with the crossbow - Daryl. He did nod his head, however, and that was just as good. After that, she realized they were waiting, again, for her to speak up. When she turned her attention silently back to her (nearly empty) plate, they picked their conversations back up again and she felt an annoying little feeling of guilt gnawing at her. She finished off the last of her mac and cheese and set her fork down, glancing around a bit before settling her gaze on the empty plate.

Slowly the conversation died out and she swallowed a few times, considering.

"Well," Rick started, standing and stretching a little, "I s'pose it's about my bedtime. For now, you can just bunk with Andrea, Carol and the kids. It'll be a little crowded tonight, but we can clear out another room tomorrow. It's good to have you with us.."

"Hope."

The girl's voice was very soft, very quiet, almost shy. Her gaze lifted nervously from her plate. Suddenly she was extremely self conscious. Did everyone hear her? Did they understand her? As soon as her eyes locked with Glenn's, though, she felt her chest swell and grow tight at the same time. The way he was smiling at her...it was just a small smile, but it was that combined with the way he was looking at her. A wary smile painted it's way onto her lips as well, and she almost forgot that everyone else was still there, watching her. All smiling as well. (Some more than others, obviously.)

"It's good to have you with us, Hope."

A/N

Too cheesey? It's late again. I get cheesier when it's late.

Let me know what you think! We'll get some more Glenn in the next chapter...perhaps some fluff. Who out there likes fluff?